Uttlesford District Council has said the disruption to bin collections should be cleared this week and normal service resumed.

The authority said staff had been out on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in a bid to clear a backlog of about 17,000 recycling bins.

The service has been severely disrupted in recent weeks due to bad weather and efforts to catch up on missed collections have also hit delays.

A spokesman for the council said: “With the increased volume of recycling to pick up, the catch-up programme has taken longer than anticipated, and some areas are still outstanding; however, please be reassured that we are doing everything possible to get things back to normal.

“Staff and crews were out on Saturday, Sunday and Monday in an attempt to catch up on the rounds that were missed. Across the three days the average crew member will have walked 21 miles and collectively helped to load almost 100 tonnes of waste. This was in addition to their usual weekly workload.

“Collections should return to normal this week and so any remaining missed bins will be cleared as part of your regular schedule.”

The spokesman added: “We would like to apologise again for the inconvenience caused during the recent disruption, and thank residents for their patience and understanding. We also thank people for their supportive messages on social media and the warm reception they have given the crews on their rounds.”

Residents can stay up to date with any changes to the refuse collections or adverse weather warnings, as well as other council information, by logging on to www.uttlesford.gov.uk/keepmeposted. You can also follow the council on Facebook and Twitter (search UttlesfordDC).

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